


Only Solutions (I just wanna hear)

by LinneaKou



Series: The Metal Heart [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel 3490, The Avengers (2012), Tron - All Media Types, Tron: Legacy (2010)
Genre: Gen, Trigger Warning: emotional breakdown, Trigger Warning: issues with stalkers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-07
Updated: 2012-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-07 03:04:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/426228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinneaKou/pseuds/LinneaKou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Sometimes, I wonder if it's really worth it. You know, being a hero."</p>
<p>Steve made a face. "Of course it is."</p>
<p>"Well, it's different for you. You're Captain America. I'm just a little girl wearing Daddy's big boy pants."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only Solutions (I just wanna hear)

**Author's Note:**

> I accidentally more girl!Tony. Again. I'm not sorry.
> 
> Threw in some TRON-verse because YOU ALL KNOW IT WOULD BE AWESOME. ALSO, STILL NOT SORRY.
> 
> Un-beta'd. That, I'm actually sorry for.

It had been just another day where the Avengers were all woken up by an alarm and called out to deal with HYDRA and the ever-waspish Baron Zemo. Zemo was, as usual, rather sore about being beaten by Captain America. But Tony had been forced to go toe-to-toe with the purple-masked Nazi while Cap was off being Cap and doing something Heroic, and Zemo had sneered.

"Do you honestly believe I am afraid of you, _woman_?"

Really, Tony couldn't be blamed for sucker-punching the jerk in the face. And then following it up with a repulsor. She wasn't even sorry. The ass deserved it.

But the jeer had hit its mark.

Later on, as she fixed the minimal damage to the suit and ignored JARVIS' constant mother-henning, Steve collapsed on the couch in her workshop. She waved a screwdriver in his direction and didn't even look up.

"You all right?"

Tony made a face. "Yes. Fine. Didn't sustain any physical injuries. Just a few minor scratches on the suit. Presto! Good as new."

"I meant..." Steve made a raspberry noise, and Tony had to blink and look at him. Steve was chewing on his lip, looking uncomfortable. "You don't seem to be in a good state of mind."

Damn the man for being so observant. Tony made a nonchalant noise and finished putting the gauntlet back together.

"Okay, that's the Tony Stark Denial Sign Number Twenty-Three." Steve sat up. "What's bothering you?"

"I do not have twenty-three or more denial signs."

"Besides the point. What's bothering--"

Tony brandished the screwdriver at him. "Don't want to talk about it."

Steve didn't back down. "Clint said something about Zemo taunting you while I was pulling Natasha out of the wall. Talk."

Tony froze. "I don't want to."

"Clint said it would have hit you where it hurt."

"Clint needs to shut the hell up."

Steve sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You know Zemo is a coward, right? He fled the scene with a personal rocket and left all of his HYDRA goons behind when he heard the Howling Commandos were closing in."

"Or, you know," Tony waved the screwdriver to punctuate her point. "He might've packed up and left because he knew the value of retreat?"

"He's a coward. He hides his face behind a mask."

"Um?" Tony tapped the Iron Man helmet and raised an eyebrow.

"You're protecting your face," Steve insisted, blushing. "And besides, the HUD is useful--"

"Okay, right. Zemo's a coward. Okay, good for us. Next topic of discussion?"

" _Tony_."

The awkward silence that followed turned into a staring contest. Finally, Tony sighed and tossed the screwdriver down on the table. "He's a sexist asshole, Steve. I don't know why it got to me, but--"

Steve made a concerned noise and shifted to the side so that she could flop down next to him on the couch. She leaned into him and he put an arm around her shoulders.

Tony coughed, uncomfortable. "Sometimes, I wonder if it's really worth it. You know, being a hero."

Steve made a face. "Of course it is."

"Well, it's different for you. You're Captain America. I'm just a little girl wearing Daddy's big boy pants." She snorted. "And that's the way it's been my entire life. And I always said I'd prove it to them, that I was just as good as the Big Boys, and it never works. Ever. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really doing anything worthwhile. And I mean _me_ , me being the person in the suit. Maybe some guy - an actual bodyguard of mine or whatever - could do just as good as me. Maybe better. I don't know." And then the bit that _hurt_. "Sometimes I wish I had been born a guy."

Steve snorted. "You're definitely pretty enough as you are. I wouldn't change a thing."

"Are you implying that I wouldn't be good enough for you as a man?" Tony asked indignantly.

Steve met her gaze and considered it. "I think I'd love you anyway," he answered after a moment, and honestly too. "But that's getting into alternate universes, and honestly, dealing with Reed Richards once a month is enough."

Tony grinned. "Hear, hear."

"But seriously, don't let Zemo get to you." Steve squeezed her shoulders. "You being Iron Man means a lot to many people. They just don't get a chance to tell you. I'm sure there's someone out there who wouldn't have anyone else in the suit."

Tony made a neutral sound and closed her eyes. "I hope you're right."

 

As the brain trust behind Stark Industries and the new tech division, Tony made it a point to check in on R&D every week or so. That, and she liked hanging with one of the programmers.

[Elizabetta Ortega](http://tmblr.co/Z4dZevKN5Ksz) had just graduated with honors from MIT when Stark Industries snatched her up. She'd shown up for work on Casual Friday wearing a FLYNN LIVES t-shirt and Tony had promoted her on the spot. Since then, they'd become work-buddies, chatting over the espresso machine about classic rock and computer games. Liz was smart, spunky, and really cute. Of course, she was half Tony's age and Tony had turned over a new leaf with the whole I'm-dating-Captain-America thing, so Tony had mentally assigned Liz to the "OFF LIMITS" section of her brain. Still, awesome chick. And she was totally not awkward around the boss, totally not uncomfortable or speechless or fumbling. She just put the whole room at ease simply by grinning and making her curly hair dance when she bobbed her head.

To say that Tony considered her a girly-girl-friend (and she only had a few of those, really, as Pepper was so kind to remind her) would be accurate enough.

So a few days after the Zemo incident, Tony showed up at R&D to find Liz utterly frayed at the seams.

Tony quickly handed the espresso in her right hand off to a passing techie, who gave her a confused look. She ignored it and slid up to Liz's cubicle, her face already morphing into a concerned one. "Hey, Ortega? You all right?"

Liz jumped like she hadn't heard Tony coming and whipped around to stare at her boss. "Um. Yeah." She giggled nervously, her voice high-pitched and uncomfortable. "I'm fine. Great! How're you, boss?"

"Liz, you're shaking like a toy dog that has to take a piss. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. Nothing at all. Is that coffee for me?I haven't slept well lately, I totally need caffeine right now."

Tony quickly moved the espresso she'd brought for herself out of Liz's reach. "You do not need caffeine, and that is coming from an addict."

"Okay. Sure. You know best. Hey, check my coding for me real quick? I think I might've gotten all wonky or something and might've mistyped a few things--"

"Liz?" one of the other programmers tapped on the wall to her cubicle. "There's someone asking for you. Said he couldn't reach your phone."

Liz froze. "No, no no no no no no no--" She dropped her head into her hands and shook her head, her curls tumbling back and forth.

"Liz?" the programmer made to touch her on the shoulder.

Tony quickly put two and two together and grabbed after him. "Wait, don't--"

Too late: the guy's hand made contact and Liz lashed out violently.

'DON'T TOUCH ME YOU--"

The guy scrambled back and Tony ducked to the side.

Liz went still again, then burst into tears and curled into the fetal position.

"Shit," Tony said quietly, and yanked out her phone.

 

Liz had gone into hysterics within ten minutes of the incident, and during that time Tony called Happy up to escort the sobbing young woman down to a car. "Take her to the hospital. I'll foot the bill," she told Happy under her breath. "Tell them she's having a mental breakdown."

Indeed, before the hysterics had kicked in, Liz had been wailing about not wanting something, just babbling nonsense until she'd dissolved into stacatto gasps.

Happy nodded solemnly and gently settled the shaking girl into the car. "I'll call once she's settled?"

"Please." Tony nodded as the door was firmly shut. She watched as the car pulled away.

 

Tony gently tapped on the doorway and poked her head in. "Knock knock?" she ventured tentatively.

Liz looked up at her and smiled weakly. "Hey, boss. I'm all done with being crazy. C'mon in."

Tony coughed and rolled her eyes. "Please. I've seen crazy. You were not being crazy." She sank into one of the chairs at the bed's side and gave the hospital suite an appreciative look-around. "Nice. They've remodeled. I approve of all the wood paneling."

Liz giggled in a genuinely amused way, and Tony felt tension that she hadn't even known existed melt away.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better." Tony gave the young woman an understanding smile, and Liz winced.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. And... I might've made a mess of the carseat, too." Liz looked at her hands, twisted in her lap.

Tony flapped a hand. "Pshaw. Material posessions, young grasshopper."

"Says the woman with a mansion _and_ her very own skyscraper with a penthouse suite."

"Yeah, well, I'd like to see _you_ try and live with what I go home to."

Liz laughed again, but she still seemed uncomfortable.

They sat in a semi-awkward silence before Tony gently placed a hand over Liz's. "Ortega, you gonna tell me what's up?"

Liz bit her lip. "There's this... guy."

Tony waited.

"He... um. We met at this one event for Flynn Lives. We chatted a little bit. He flirted with me but he wasn't my type - total conspiracy nut. Thinks the U.S. government had Kevin Flynn kidnapped by aliens or something. So somehow he got a hold of my address and contact info." Liz shuddered. "He won't leave me alone."

Tony's jaw clenched. "You want me to send Thor over to talk with him? I'll tell him to bring his hammer."

Liz shook her head. "I don't want any trouble--"

"It's no trouble at all. Seriously, Thor is all about helping fair maidens and so on, and he'd totally jump at the chance to--"

"Please. Boss." Liz curled in on herself and hid her face. "I don't want any trouble. Please."

Tony didn't say anything. She eventually nodded and patted Liz's hand. "I want you to stay home from work for a bit. But not at your place, if this guy knows where that is. There's a guest suite at the Tower; I'll have Happy take you there once you're discharged."

Liz's head shot up and her eyes widened. "Oh, boss, you don't have to--"

"You need some time off, Ortega. Okay?"

Liz bit her lip again. It was looking ready to bleed. Finally, she hung her head. "Okay." She shifted slightly on the hospital bed. "Please, don't do anything to this guy. Please."

"Okay. All right. I promise." Tony pursed her lips. "I won't do anything to this creeper dude. On my honor."

 

The second day that Liz stayed at the Tower, Tony knocked on the door and waited in the hallway, still in her business suit for the meeting she'd escaped from downstairs. There was a shuffling sound and then the door opened, revealing a much healthier-looking Liz. "Hiya, boss!" she chirped. "Come on in! Ooh, is that French Roast I smell?"

Tony grinned and pressed the coffee into Liz's hands. "It looks like you've barely lived in here!" She examined the kitchenette and the living room with raised eyebrows. "Barely touched. Girl, what have you been eating?"

Liz rolled her eyes. "I've been eating. I just clean up after myself."

Tony snorted. "Oh, what I wouldn't give for Barton to do that."

"You're pretty messy, according to Ms. Potts."

"Pepper," Tony made a face. "Pepper is my P.A. It is Pepper's job to find my messes."

Liz giggled.

They both took seats at the kitchen island. Tony swirled the coffee in her cup for a moment, then said, "So. I think I've figured out an answer to your situation that doesn't involve me sending Thor or any SHIELD agents armed with tasers or experimental guns out to meet this guy that's been bothering you."

Liz was silent.

"I... well, you know I'm friends with Sam Flynn." Tony took a sip from her cup. "And you know that our StarkPhones and most of our other tech run the FLYNN-OS. ENCOM has been a really good partner in crime these past few years, but we've all been thinking of assigning one of our techs over to ENCOM to be a sort of... liason between the two companies' R&D departments."

Liz still didn't say anything.

"Ortega, you are the best programmer I've ever met. You've got common sense and an intuition that I would place bets on. And you are probably one of the best people I've ever hired. I want you to take this job."

Liz didn't answer.

"Of course, it would mean that you'd have to move out to L.A. I'd arrange that, of course. We've got our plant out there with offices and stuff, so you'd have a place there and a place at ENCOM. I've also made arrangements for an apartment and transportation if you need it. That is..." Tony finally chanced a look at her drinking mate. "...if you take the job."

Liz was staring into her cup. She finally turned her head and stared at Tony. "You're doing this all for me?" she asked quietly, as if she couldn't believe it.

Tony nodded. "Yeah. You deserve it. Without a doubt."

Liz's eyes began to well up with tears. "I... I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. Just..." Tony trailed off. She couldn't think of anything else to say, so she drained her cup and smacked her lips. "So is that a yes?"

Liz nodded, a small smile on her lips. "Thank you. Thank you _so much_."

Tony smiled, slightly uncomfortable. "It's no problem, Ortega. Really."

They sat there in silence for a minute, then Liz spoke up again. "You know, I don't think I've ever told anyone this, but..." she blushed. "You've always been my hero."

Tony blinked.

"I mean..." Liz huffed out a sigh and rolled her eyes skyward. "When I was a kid, I loved superheroes. Couldn't get enough of 'em. Especially Captain America--" she smirked at Tony, who smirked right back. "And I made a lot of guy friends in elementary school because of it," she added. "But when recess rolled around and everyone got together to play Superheroes, they told me I had to be the damsel in distress. Because girls weren't superheroes. And it never got any better. I couldn't be a hacker, because programming wasn't for girls. I couldn't write software, because girls didn't write software. I couldn't make things of my own, because girls couldn't do that. But..." And now she looked at Tony with almost religious wonder. "But you did anyway. And... I looked to you when I fought to get into MIT and get into all the advanced classes. You were my inpsiration. You always have been. And--" she fixed Tony with a very sincere look. "I knew you were Iron Man from the moment you appeared. My brother laughed at me, said that Antonia Stark could never be Iron Man, but I _knew_. And I finally had a superhero of my own. And..." she looked away, cast her gaze down to the counter and hid beneath her bangs and lashes. "Thank you for that."

Tony was speechless.

"So many little girls worldwide got their very own lady superhero the day you were unmasked." Liz actually had tears in her eyes. " _Finally_. So. Thank you _so much_ for being a superhero and a kickass lady and a wonderful person. It means so much to us." She hesitated, then threw her arms around Tony's shoulders. Tony's hands automatically came up to pat her back. Liz's face was buried in Tony's shoulder, but she could hear her anyway.

"Thank you, Tony Stark."

**Author's Note:**

> And that is how Liz got hired at ENCOM.
> 
> Liz Ortega is an original character of mine, inspired by my beloved Ironclad Blizzard Lizard (AKA the Liz who used to beta my work.) Here, have some doodles: http://tmblr.co/Z4dZevKN5Ksz
> 
> The title of this story is from Journey's "Only Solutions" which was a song on the 1982 TRON's soundtrack. Even if Wendy Carlos doesn't like that this song was spliced into her score, I still love this song. Seriously.


End file.
